2020-2021 has indeed been a time of challenge.

But the challenge is inevitable. The future is always in flux, the past cannot be changed, and the present is of our own making.

The present may be disorienting, demanding immediate reaction in the face of sudden and lasting change, but what is made from that remains our choice, complete with all the rewards and consequences that will also inevitably arise.

Challenge also reveals true character.

If we run, we are telling ourselves we are too weak and afraid, a state doomed to create more disorientation.

But if we face what we’re afraid of and move toward it, then we say we are willing to grow even if it is painful to do so.

Much of our suffering in life is governed by our reactions to challenges, not the challenge itself. And those reactions leave behind a record of our decisions that have led us to the place we now call, ‘ME’

If ‘ME’ is lacking or incomplete, then a challenge is exactly what is needed.

Sometimes we see things in our ‘ME’ which may disturb us. But seeing those things is the first step towards healing.

There is only 1 rule on this path – do not create additional conditions of suffering for ‘ME’ or others.